AP Chinese Language and Culture

Students learn about various aspects of contemporary Chinese society, including geography and population, ethnic and regional diversity, travel and transportation, and current affairs etc. They also explore the realm of Chinese societal relationships, examining how individuals interact with family members, elders, and peers, and integrate this knowledge into their interpersonal communications in AP Chinese Language and Culture Course.

What are the major projects you will complete in this course?

Throughout the course, students hone their language skills across the three communicative modes: Interpersonal, Interpretive, and Presentational. In so doing, they develop necessary knowledge of the Chinese language, including pronunciation, vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, grammatical structures, and written characters.

Formative and summative assessments will lead up to the final AP exam in May.

Advanced Placement exam is available for this course.

Advanced Placement (AP) exams are available for this course. For more information on Advanced Placement, click here.

Course Details

June Wang

"You should take this course if you are ready for a college-level course and have a passion for Chinese language and culture."

AP Chinese Language and Culture

ID: 45025 Grade: 10-12 Length: YearCredit: LanguagePrerequisite: Current teacher recommendation.Note: Beginning in 2019-20, eleventh grade students who have completed at least one year in the Intermediate-High course will be able to select this course for twelfth grade without a teacher recommendation. Students in ninth and tenth grades will still require a teacher recommendation. This course has a grade point weighting of 0.5.

AP Chinese is designed to be comparable to fourth semester university courses in Mandarin Chinese. The course prepares students to demonstrate their level of Chinese proficiency across the three communicative modes (interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational) and the five goal areas (communication, cultures, connections, comparisons, and communities). Students are provided with ongoing and varied opportunities to further develop their proficiencies across the full range of language skills within a cultural frame of reference. Materials and activities are adapted from authentic sources to support the linguistic and cultural goals of the course. Both contemporary and historical Chinese culture are explored. Students will be prepared for and strongly encouraged to sit for the AP exam in May.

What Our Students Say

I decided to take AP Chinese Language and Culture to challenge myself through a rigorous course that dives into both historical and modern Chinese culture. My speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills quickly improved due to the dynamic and engaging learning environment. With numerous opportunities to practice, Chinese has become more than a second language to me.”Madeline Smith,
Class of 2019

Special to AP Chinese is its inclusion of both the Chinese language and culture. Grasping the flow of a foreign language is hard enough, but with the historical and current studies of the culture, the course becomes more interesting and easier to follow. Understanding the country and its arts can be some of the most rewarding experiences of an entire high school career, and it is definitely one not to be missed. AP Chinese Language and Culture requires effort and interest; taking and completing the course is an amazing and gratifying achievement. ”Heleen Ren,
Class of 2020

Results that Matter

20+

Advanced Placement (AP) courses and exams

97%

of 3's, 4's, and 5's received in AP exams in 2018

21

Advanced Topics (AT) courses

34%

of the Class of 2018 graduates were awarded cum laude commendations

What Our Alumni Say

Testimonial

AP Chinese at SAS was really good. Was it challenging at times? Sure. However, it was due to the fact that it had more work than other Chinese courses that I got more out of the AP than any other Chinese class at SAS. If you are interested in pursuing Chinese, or want to get college credit, definitely take this course. Also, we have a good AP test average, so that really helps when applying to colleges. I took advanced Chinese last semester and it was roughly equivalent to AP Chinese at SAS. This is not typical—at other high schools, AP Chinese did not prepare students as well as SAS did. It is definitely on par with a college course, and helped me a lot in getting ready for college Chinese. That being said, all writing in AP Chinese is typed, so I had to go back and relearn how to write a lot of characters.